7. SoS
9. Macca. Tell him he has 30mins a half to do more than just tackle or the Turpinator will force him back to reggies.
14. Niko

Wouldn’t like to move Isaako out for a game vs Nene, but at the very least we need to start doing the Mini-RTS method of Isaako in defence for kicks and returns and Boyd in the attacking 20. Boyd can sit in the line all he likes at centre or wing then in defence

No Lodge means I’d be running Mago to start with Offa, Pangai at lock. Gillo back to the edge. Su’A on the bench at best atm. He looks overweight. With Lodge out it might pay to have Patty there anyway

Excellent. I still think he's a very limited player, but the things that he CAN do are so **** valuable. Especially if the other teams refuses to drop the **** ball and the refs stop blowing penalties.

Excellent. I still think he's a very limited player, but the things that he CAN do are so **** valuable. Especially if the other teams refuses to drop the **** ball and the refs stop blowing penalties.

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You're not wrong, I think he would've either scored or set up Isaako for 2 tries last night. Nikorima put Staggs in to a decent amount of space on the right a couple of times, one time Staggs threw a forward pass to Isaako, the other time he just didn't have to speed necessary to make a play happen. Jimmy is a master of those 2 on 2 situations.

You know full well that isn't what's being argued. Obviously it would depend on cap space but if they could sign him they would 100% be interested. They'd much prefer a hooker who can get close to a rep team over the garbage they currently have. My favourite part is that the Brisbane Broncos are the one club who is interested enough to keep him.

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There is lots to admire about McCullough, not least of all his passion for the Broncos and the unrelenting effort he puts in every time he puts the jersey on.

When he came into grade, he looked to have so much potential, but be it due to season ending injuries or a dip in form / confidence, it seems his best football may well and truly be behind him (I would gladly be wrong though). At 29, it’s quite possible he has worked himself to a standstill, which is not a good sign.

But don’t kid yourself, I very much doubt he is at the Broncos because they’re so interested in keeping him, as you put it. It is much more likely that it’s because there is no better option. He is our number 9 by default and unless he improves, I doubt he will ever play Origin again.

In my opinion, the Broncos would bench him, drop him to reserve grade or dispose of him in a heartbeat if a rookie was banging down the door or a better option became available that sat within the constraints of our cap.

But therein lays the problem; our cap limits us incredibly, because we have committed to other players on big money so have to compromise in other positions. At this point in time, hooker is one of those positions.

That'd be something I'd be interested in trying if Roberts was out long term, but if it's only 1-2 weeks, there's really no point in disrupting the back line even more imo. We should explore that in the off-season 1000% though.

There is lots to admire about McCullough, not least of all his passion for the Broncos and the unrelenting effort he puts in every time he puts the jersey on.

When he came into grade, he looked to have so much potential, but be it due to season ending injuries or a dip in form / confidence, it seems his best football may well and truly be behind him (I would gladly be wrong though). At 29, it’s quite possible he has worked himself to a standstill, which is not a good sign.

But don’t kid yourself, I very much doubt he is at the Broncos because they’re so interested in keeping him, as you put it. It is much more likely that it’s because there is no better option. He is our number 9 by default and unless he improves, I doubt he will ever play Origin again.

In my opinion, the Broncos would bench him, drop him to reserve grade or dispose of him in a heartbeat if a rookie was banging down the door or a better option became available that sat within the constraints of our cap.

But therein lays the problem; our cap limits us incredibly, because we have committed to other players on big money so have to compromise in other positions. At this point in time, hooker is one of those positions.

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But there isn't. There is not an available player that is better than him. There isn't an available player at the clubs that I listed that are better than him. Like the entire Ben Hunt situation, my only problem is the bullshit that is spouted about everything being his fault. He was barely at fault last night and look at what this place has become. He could not have done more.

I only saw two tries: one a bog standard pass-out-the-backline movement which was sluggish as buggery but came off, thanks to Corey Oates being hard to tackle. I can't even count that as a play. We practiced that in under 12's, when half of us could barely pass better than Macca.

The second, was an Oates intercept. Individual brilliance only.

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Those "bog standard pass-out-the-backline" movements just don't happen. They have to be engineered over multiple plays to get the opposition defences stretched enough to allow the try. Otherwise we'd just be able to pull off that movement anywhere on the field and Oates would be able to get 1 on 1 with his opposite and bash through them and score whenever we felt like it, right?

But please also tell me the other times "We literally look clueless close to the line", as you described it yourself.

Those "bog standard pass-out-the-backline" movements just don't happen. They have to be engineered over multiple plays to get the opposition defences stretched enough to allow the try. Otherwise we'd just be able to pull off that movement anywhere on the field and Oates would be able to get 1 on 1 with his opposite and bash through them and score whenever we felt like it, right?

But please also tell me the other times "We literally look clueless close to the line", as you described it yourself.

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And it's pretty much the only play we looked like laying on. It has literally won premierships. It's far from bog average.

Those "bog standard pass-out-the-backline" movements just don't happen. They have to be engineered over multiple plays to get the opposition defences stretched enough to allow the try. Otherwise we'd just be able to pull off that movement anywhere on the field and Oates would be able to get 1 on 1 with his opposite and bash through them and score whenever we felt like it, right?

But please also tell me the other times "We literally look clueless close to the line", as you described it yourself.

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You raise a good point. We squandered the ball so badly we barely even got near their line last night.

I guess I was concatenating the previous trial. And it reminded me of every game Macca played last year.

You raise a good point. We squandered the ball so badly we barely even got near their line last night.

I guess I was concatenating the previous trial. And it reminded me of every game Macca played last year.

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Well I certainly didn't expect your opinions to suddenly become good now. Your inability to give praise to something Boyd was involved with doesn't surprise me. It was so "bog average" that it was one of the only things that worked against the Melbourne Storm defense.

There is lots to admire about McCullough, not least of all his passion for the Broncos and the unrelenting effort he puts in every time he puts the jersey on.

When he came into grade, he looked to have so much potential, but be it due to season ending injuries or a dip in form / confidence, it seems his best football may well and truly be behind him (I would gladly be wrong though). At 29, it’s quite possible he has worked himself to a standstill, which is not a good sign.

But don’t kid yourself, I very much doubt he is at the Broncos because they’re so interested in keeping him, as you put it. It is much more likely that it’s because there is no better option. He is our number 9 by default and unless he improves, I doubt he will ever play Origin again.

In my opinion, the Broncos would bench him, drop him to reserve grade or dispose of him in a heartbeat if a rookie was banging down the door or a better option became available that sat within the constraints of our cap.

But therein lays the problem; our cap limits us incredibly, because we have committed to other players on big money so have to compromise in other positions. At this point in time, hooker is one of those positions.

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I can’t speak for last night but my criticism from Macca has always been how clunky he looks when he gets out from hooker to engage the markers. I can’t say this for certain but it seems like a lot of our forward’s hit ups are ran at the A and B defenders rather than working over the markers and targeting the spaces in and around the ruck.

I only saw two tries: one a bog standard pass-out-the-backline movement which was sluggish as buggery but came off, thanks to Corey Oates being hard to tackle. I can't even count that as a play. We practiced that in under 12's, when half of us could barely pass better than Macca.

The second, was an Oates intercept. Individual brilliance only.

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Funny Joey Johns thought it was a good play , ummmm think I'll take his opinion over your's.

So long as he/they are ready (I know we have Kennar there, but can he even jump atm?). I want Boyd gone too, but that’s yet another rookie then ... **** it why not, gotta give them a crack I suppose. Every other club does

I can’t speak for last night but my criticism from Macca has always been how clunky he looks when he gets out from hooker to engage the markers. I can’t say this for certain but it seems like a lot of our forward’s hit ups are ran at the A and B defenders rather than working over the markers and targeting the spaces in and around the ruck.

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THIS, and the fact that our kicking game still sucks big time.

My problem with Macca is largely that he doesn't direct the forwards by reading the game as Smith does. My problem with our kicking game is that we don't have a kicking game. It's just hoick on the 5th (or 4th or 3rd) without any thought or planning.

Last night, Munster showed exactly what a quality kicking is like. Time, and it really is time, for Milford to stand up and unleash some varied attacking kicks.

A few inside out passing plays wouldn't go astray either as the Storm showed last night.

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